Line Dancing

[johnherring]

Interesting post Slim. Shame it has turned into an anti line dance rant.
People have always danced apart and did not start holding each other until the mid 19th century. Check the many historical documentaries on TV these days.
I find most line dancers friendly, hospitable, caring, charitable people who just want to have fun and are happy to pay for it, like everyone else. Their idea of fun is dancing and they will seek out the singers and bands that give them what they want. When they found some of what they were looking for in some country clubs that boasted of a warm welcome to all, the initial welcome sometimes turned into acrimonious exclusion as described in other posts, so they took themselves and their money off to start their own scene. They hire bands when they can afford them but mainly employ solos or duos who work with tracks, some bought, some made and sadly, some lifted, just like the country circuit!
There are clubs that welcome everyone no matter how they dance and they get along very well. Perhaps the reason that these clubs survive when others have gone under or have literally died out is because of their willingness to welcome everyone and their money through their doors.
Why the emphasis on money? Regardless of our personal likes and dislikes, as soon as we accept a fee for doing what we do we have a responsibility to those who pay us to give them the best entertainment we can, in the hope that they will come back to pay us again and keep our club circuit alive.
If we don't like playing to line dancers, the answer is simple. Don't do it! Don't accept work where we know they will be. We could always offer to play steel instrumentals during band breaks. Then we can play what we like. Sitting behind a steel is not hard work.
Our scene is always changing and will continue to, and as for the good old days, to quote Bill Monroe, "they're gone"!
All we can do is make the best of what we have while looking for new opportunities, as Slim has done with his old fogies circuit.
It's not all doom and gloom.
All the best

John H.